Before God started speaking to me about the rapture and end times, I hadn’t ever given much thought to the subject. But now I wanted to know as much as possible so I started a deep study into Revelation which took me throughout the Bible.
While outlining Revelation, I tried to disregard all opinions/theories - including my own - in order to best outline what the Bible said and in the order the Bible says it. Remember, all other prophesies in the Bible (that have come to pass) have happened just as they were prophesied - why would Revelation be different? Additionally, I found that by accepting it as it is told, Revelation aligned with all other scriptures about the end times.
KEY TIMING MARKERS GIVEN
Church of Philadelphia kept from Tribulation (Rev 3:10)
ONLY the 7 seals are referred to as a period called Tribulation
AFTER the 7th seal is opened, the 7 angels are given a shofar
1st woe ends after 5th shofar
2nd woe ends after witnesses resurrected
People have the mark of the beast throughout the Bowls of Fury (final woe)
GREAT TRIBULATION
The Great Tribulation & Time of Troubles (Last Week) are 2 different periods according to scriptures.
ONLY the 7 seals that precede the 7 shofars is a period referred to as the Great Tribulation
AFTER the 7 seals it is never again called the Great Tribulation, but rather as the Time of Troubles, Woes, Wrath, and/or Fury... In Daniel, the Time of the End is referred to as a Time of Troubles and Last Week
Great Tribulation period is for the final refining & purification of the church.
Messages to churches in Revelation:
Rev 2:10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation 10 days. (10 days/yrs: possibly length of Great Tribulation??)
Rev 2:22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.
Hosea 5:15 I will return again to My place until they acknowledge their offense. Then they will seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.
Tribulation period precedes the Final Week
This is how it is told in both Revelation (see Rev 7-8) and also in Daniel.
Rev 8: 1-2 When He opened the 7th seal, there was silence in heaven for about ½ hour. And I saw the 7 angels who stand before God, and to them were given 7 trumpets. (Angels are given the shofars AFTER last seal opened).
Daniel 11:35-36 And some of those of understanding shall fall, to refine them, purify them, and make them white (seals - great tribulation), UNTIL the time of the end (the last week - time of troubles); because IT IS YET for the appointed time. THEN the king (antichrist) shall do according to his own will: he shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished; for what has been determined shall be done.
THE DEPARTURE a.k.a. “THE RAPTURE”
The departure occurs between the 6th & 7th seal, before the angels are given a shofars (Rev 7:9 - Rev 8)
Rev 7:9-14 A great multitude...standing before the throne...these have come out of the Great Tribulation
Departure of God’s elect described in Revelation aligns to departure of Holy Spirit described in 2 Thessalonians. This makes sense that those filled with the Holy Spirit (everyday), would depart when He does.
2 Thessalonians 2:6-8 And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one (Holy Spirit) who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.
NOT ALL CHRISTIANS DEPART / ARE “RAPTURED”
As the Israelites stood at the edge of the promise land after wandering the desert for 40 years having been led by God, their unbelief that God would deliver them from the giants of the land, prevented them from being able to enter.
Hebrews 3:19 So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief.
The story is the same with Noah - those who did not believe before the rain started, weren’t allowed into the ark.
The story is the same with almost everything in the Bible from the very basis of salvation, healing, gifts of the Holy Spirit - unbelief in the heart blocks someone from receiving it.
Could this be the reason there are Christians during the Last Week? Notice in the verse below, Paul writes, “are alive AND REMAIN” - meaning there are Christians who are alive and DO NOT REMAIN (departed/raptured).
1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive AND REMAIN shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 5: 9-10 For God has not intended that we should experience his fury, but that we should gain deliverance through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who died on our behalf so that whether we are alive or dead, we may live along with him.
Afterwards the 144,000 are sealed & begins the time of witnesses (Rev 8 & 11)
Romans 11:25-27 For I do not desire that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (literally gone in, raptured!). And so all Israel will be saved... (Israel sees the gentiles were right about Yeshua being Messiah and are repentant, clothed in sackcloth and mourning).
THE WITNESSES - WHO
Revelation 11 ...I will give power to my 2 witnesses & they will prophesy 1,260 days (3.5 yrs), clothed in sackcloth. These are the 2 olive trees & the 2 lampstands standing before the God of the earth. If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth & devours their enemies. They have power to shut heaven, so that no rain falls in the days of their prophecy & they have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they desire.
The Witnesses are referred to as bodies of people: LAMPSTAND (church) & OLIVE TREE (Jews) >> Messianic Jews
WHO: Judah & Israel
Daniel 9:27 Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week >> Jeremiah 31:31 “The days coming” declares the Lord, “When I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
2 Kings 8:19 Yet the LORD would not destroy Judah, for the sake of His servant David, as He promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever.
Jeremiah 11:16 The Lord called your name, Green Olive Tree, Lovely and of Good Fruit. With the noise of a great tumult. He has kindled fire on it, And its branches are broken.
Isaiah 43:10 “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me.
Isaiah 44:8 Do not fear, nor be afraid; Have I not told you from that time, and declared it? You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one.
Romans 11:24 You were cut out of an olive tree that is wild by nature, and contrary to nature were grafted into a cultivated olive tree!
Zechariah 4
Rev 11: 4 “...standing before the God of the earth”:
Israel & Judah quite literally stand before Jerusalem
The Witnesses are clothed in sackcloth = Custom of Jews representing mourning, repentance & turning back to God.
THE ELIJAH (spirit) PROPHECY was fulfilled through John the Baptist right BEFORE the 70th week of Daniel’s prophecy (Yeshua’s ministry, the 1st Day of the Lord).
PROPHECY: Malachi 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.
FULFILLMENT: John the Baptist operated in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17) to turn the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.
Matthew 17:11-12 He answered, Elijah does come, and he will restore all things. But I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands.
Matthew 11:14-15 And if you are willing to accept it, he is the Elijah who was to come. Whoever has ears, let them hear.
The 144,000
The 144,000 are sealed for God before the Time of Troubles and right at the time when the Witnesses begin their ministry. (Possibly are the Witnesses being sealed with power from God).
Antichrist copies the miracles of the Witnesses - parallel to how Pharaoh (in Egypt) tried to copy the miracles of Moses
After the Witnesses are killed, again the antichrist copies God again (how God sealed the 144,000) by demanding people receive a seal in order for them to have buy/sell
THE WITNESSES - TIMING
The Witnesses ministry is during the period of the 7 Shofars:
The witnesses are spoken of during the shofars
The events of the shofars align to the powers the witnesses have been given
POSSIBLE Timing of the Witness’s resurrection: 3.5 days >> 3.5 years
1 year = 1 day: The Time of Troubles (7 years) is referred to as the LAST WEEK (7 days)
So 3.5 days = 3.5 years
Day = Year is also prophetic code for timing throughout the Bible
examples: 2 Peter 3:8, Numbers 14:34, Ezekiel 4:6, Book of Daniel
The 2nd half of the period (3.5 yrs) is referred to as “the days of the 7th shofar”
Revelation 10:7 but in the days of the sounding of the 7th angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished
If the witnesses only laid dead for 3.5 actual days, that would put their resurrection at/near the same time that the antichrist is (falsely) resurrected. In which case, the antichrist’s resurrection wouldn’t seem so remarkable and able to deceive the whole world. But if their resurrection was after 3.5 years, their resurrection would align to the time God calls His people to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
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